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Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green is well accustomed to paying fine money. But he wants to know where the money goes.
The former Defensive Player of the Year said he is unbothered by fines at this stage of his career. He actually said a conversation with Richard Jefferson lent some clarity with respect to technical fouls being used appropriately and eventually helping players earn more money during contract negotiations.
Still, the Warriors veteran wants a more concrete understanding of what the NBA does with fine money:
“We’ve never heard a single thing about it,” Green said, via Joe Vardon of The Athletic. “For years we’ve all been told, ‘Yeah, the fine money goes to charity,’ but we don’t hear anything about these charities, we don’t have any say so about these charities. Nor do you ever hear, ‘Oh your fine money went to said charity.’ Maybe that is an opportunity to build a relationship with said charity?
“Honestly, in my opinion it’s just this phantom thing that we’ve heard for years. We’ve never seen the benefits of where this fine money actually goes.”
Well, where does the money go?
Vardon reports the money does indeed go to charity and individuals in need, though there is no way in tracking a specific player's fine money. According to Vardon, that's so the league can avoid “impropriety” and players funneling fine money into their own causes.
Fine money is split between the league office and individual teams. The league office allocates funds to NBA Cares. Player fines are usually handled by the NBPA and, per Vardon, pooled in a large “endowment.” Both the NBA Cares wing and NBPA Foundation make donations accordingly, with The Athletic including some groups — like Athlete Ally on the Thurgood Marshall College Fund — that benefited from charitable contributions.
Green has routinely been among the NBA leaders in technical fouls. The Warriors star led the league in that category in 2016 and 2019. Fines have come with the techs and suspensions. However, he can take solace knowing his money is, in fact, being put to good use.
